Actual Resolution
by Reader115
Summary: A one-shot centered around the 2012 series episode, "Mutant Gangland". Because I'd like to see a little more brother fluff. Warning: Contains spoilers for the episode (and I suppose the 2 episodes before it). I don't own the turtles.


Raphael had stopped speaking to him.

No one else really noticed, because Raphael did still speak to him when they were in a group. Mainly Raph was yelling at him in those instances, but since that could be considered the norm, no one really took note of the extra aggression Raph had been tossing his way. But by day four of the silent treatment, any contact from Raph was beginning to feel like a small victory to Leo, so he tried not to mind all the yelling.

He wasn't sure why Raph was so upset. He'd only been trying to help Karai. Karai who just happened to be their Master's daughter. And who just happened to be charging headfirst towards their now shared mortal enemy. So helping Karai seemed like the right thing to do. But then Donnie had gotten hurt because Leo was out helping Karai. And not only had April yelled at him, but Raphael had actually _lectured_ him. And, yes, it was true that Leo had talked Raphael out of going off alone as a metal turtle vigilante a while back. But that was different, wasn't it? Leo wasn't off alone. And what Leo was doing was for the good of the family. He was pretty sure Raph only wanted to go out and beat up street thugs for fun.

Leo knew he'd screwed up, though. He should've told his family what he was doing. And he realized now that not telling them had been one way his subconscious was telling him that the whole deal was a bad idea. At least that's what Michelangelo told him when he'd cornered him as they had waited for Donnie to wake up. Listening to Mikey spew psychological babble would've seemed strange a year ago. But, Leo had noticed that the little turtle had a good handle on emotions and how to respond to and respect them. So he didn't scoff at Mikey. And instead told him he was finished running around with Karai without the rest of the team. Mikey had easily accepted this. And moved on.

And thankfully, Donatello had recovered. And Donnie wasn't mad at him. Sensei didn't seem all that upset, either. But then there was Raphael. Leo couldn't remember a time when Raph had used the silent treatment like this. He usually ran off, cooled off alone, and then returned as if nothing had happened. Sometimes there was an apology from Raph, but Leo didn't count on them. Of course, Leo was the one who owed Raph an apology this time. And he had tried, but his stubborn brother was making issuing said apology impossible. But, Leo wasn't giving up on Raphael.

For instance, yesterday, he'd watched his brothers fly around a skyscraper like a bunch of insects themselves when they'd shown up to save Leo and the rest of the team from Stockman and those large mutant insects. And on their way home last night, after complimenting Donnie on his new grappling system invention, and stroking Mikey's turflytle ego, he had tried to tell Raph how proud he was that he'd faced his insect fear. And that he'd looked pretty damn cool while doing it.

Raphael's curt reply had pretty much been that Leo could shove his compliment up his ass.

And now this morning he'd endured a rather viscous spar with Raphael. A spar where Raph didn't pull his punches and had forced Master Splinter to step in between the two of them, something Master Splinter hadn't been forced to do since they were young teens. Leo could've tapped out, but he didn't, because Raphael was actually talking to him during the spar, and Leo was willing to put up with a few heavy punches if it meant Raph was finally opening up to him.

But then Raphael declared that he was quitting the team and stomped out of the dojo and out of the lair. Leo listened to Master Splinter talk about their foibles and then silently seethed when sensei said they wouldn't always be able to count on family. Wasn't that the exact _opposite_ thing that they had been taught growing up? If they couldn't count on family, then who could they count on?

He left the dojo, intent on thinking over the subject in private, but he was stopped by the entrance of the Mighty Mutanimals in the lair. Not a social visit, either, it seemed. Time to gear up once again.

* * *

Thankfully, Raphael returned to them later that night. He was limping slightly and had obviously been involved in an uneven fight. And he brought with him news that Donnie and Mondo Gecko had been taken. Leo's eyes widened at the bruises covering his brother, but he didn't try to say anything to Raph directly. What was important was that Raphael had returned to them. And returned in one piece. And that he was here to help rescue Donatello. Because Donnie was family. And you didn't abandon family. So, instead Leo returned to the maps in front of them, more desperate now to find the gang's hideout before Donnie could be used as a test subject.

* * *

After Donatello and the gecko's rescue, Leonardo watched as the others, including Raphael, walked ahead of him through the tunnels towards the lair. Seeing Raph return home without being forced should've been enough to raise his spirits. But his feet slowed until they stopped and he was left to stand alone in the tunnel as the rest of his noisy group headed into their home.

This had been a mostly successful night. The gang members had been defeated, for now at least. And Donnie was safe. But Leo wasn't ready to face his sensei with a report yet. So he walked a short distance back to the nearest train track and sat on the ledge with his feet dangling over the side.

He didn't turn when he heard Raph's footfalls come up behind him. Nor did he say anything when Raphael sat down next to him.

Raphael glared over at his brother, and decided to immediately speak his mind. "I don't think I'm a huge fan of you havin a ton of free time to sit and think. Next thing ya know, you'll come up with some _dumbass_ reason to join the Hammer in some _dumbass_ revenge plot because the giant tool came up with some righteous reason to get ya to help him." He watched as Leo's eyes moved warily towards him and understood Leo's hesitation to respond. The last few times Leo had tried to talk to him had been rebuffed, including their rather violent spar earlier that day.

"I'm not that gullible," Leo finally muttered. "And I don't think helping Karai is the same thing as helping a gang member." Leo resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his brother. He watched, though, as Raphael continued to glare at him before Leo finally gave in with a defeated sigh. "Alright, I swear to never help the Hammer." There was a small pause. "And I'm also sorry I was helping Karai behind your back."

Raphael turned to face the tracks in front of them again with a nod. Yanking an apology out of Fearless wasn't as satisfying as it should've been with Leo's face looking so damn miserable.

"Why are ya sittin out here by yerself?"

"I was thinking."

Raphael groaned. But when Leo continued to look miserable, he elbowed the other turtle in his side and waved his hands in front of his own plastron to indicate that Leo should keep talking.

"You ran off and sensei said we couldn't count on family always being there and then -." He paused. "Raph, those gang members hated us."

"Yeah, Leo, bad guys usually do."

"No, Raph. They really _hated_ us. Their anger wasn't just because we would try to stop them from taking over the city. They were angry because we – because we are -,"

"Because we're mutants."

Leo nodded slowly. "It doesn't make sense. We haven't done anything to them, unless you count that they would be mutant slaves to the Kraang without us. Or you know, _nonexistent_ because without us Earth would've been destroyed." Leo paused as he felt himself get worked up and could see Raph peering at him. "I mean, its fine that we didn't get any recognition for saving the earth, but to be treated like this? To be targeted and attacked? Just because we're mutants? They were going to cut Donnie open -,"

"Ya wouldn't let em." He cut Leo off before the other turtle could get any more depressing.

" _We_ wouldn't let them." Leo's eyes locked with Raphael's. "You can't leave us, Raphael. Okay? You can be mad at me, but you can't _leave_ _us_. If you don't think we're taking training seriously enough, then I'll work harder to make sure that we do."

"Just like that?"

Leo nodded. "I care about what you think, Raph."

Raphael stared back at Leo's honest face for a few moments before offering a half shrug. "Ya take training pretty serious, Fearless."

"Then I'll make sure the other two take it seriously," Leo said with a wry smile.

"I just want us prepared." Raph rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. "Listen, Leo, those thugs aren't worth worryin about. They can hate us all they want, but they ain't gonna hurt us. Cause we're a good team. With a good leader. It's why I was pissed at ya. You can't leave us either, ya know."

"I wasn't leaving," Leo insisted.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Raph groaned. "Look, Leo, I know yer gonna wanna argue with me on this, but sensei's wrong. Ya _can_ always count on family."

"I know," Leo quickly agreed. "We'll just have to prove him wrong. I'm going to need you around for that."

"I already said I wasn't going anywhere."

"No, you haven't." He met Raph's eyes again with a pointed look of his own.

There was another groan from the other turtle before he begrudgingly said what Leonardo had been waiting to hear. "I'm not quittin the team."

"Good. Cause I really do care what you think, Raph." He smiled at his brother and got an actual smile in return. "Although, it would be nice if we could sit and talk like this if you have something to say, instead of slamming my shell into the mats during training to make your point."

Raphael chuckled with a thoughtful look on his face. "Yer shell okay?"

Leo opened his mouth to answer but was interrupted by Donnie's voice calling out to them from further down the tunnel.

"You guys done making up yet?"

"Yeah, how much longer do we have sit back here? I can't even hear from this far back!"

The two of them turned and watched as Donnie and Mikey came around the corner together with big grins on their faces. They plopped down on either side of Leo and Raph and Donnie leaned around Leo in order to apologize to Raph for his earlier remarks.

"I'm sorry too, Don. But lets stop apologizing," Raph said, shooting an amused look at Leo. "Its makin me feel funny."

* * *

 **A/N** : I had the idea for this one shot after watching "Mutant Gangland". Because, one, while I enjoyed the spar between Raph and Leo for _reasons_ , I'm not really buying that Raph was angry because he thought the team was not taking training seriously.

And two, Leo's remark that he was worried Raph was pulling away from the family seemed to come out of nowhere from what we've seen on the show (and I love Leo, but it was also a little hypocritical of him since Leo was running around on his own with Karai and Shini like 2 episodes ago).

And three, what was with Master Splinter's repeated ominous " _I won't always be here_ " and " _You can't always rely on family_ " teachings? I mean, didn't they just spend 6 months in space with only each other to rely on? I realize Master Splinter wasn't there (which brings up a pet peeve of mine regarding this season - we weren't privy to Master Splinter's reaction to _anything_ that the group went through during the space arc). However, even though the team missed him terribly, they still did what he would expect of them, which is work together as a team.

So why are we reverting back to _Raph is angry that everyone is on Leo's side_? Ugh. I'd just like to see some character growth in the show. Because I believe this gang is _tight_ in a way that normal families just aren't, because normal families don't have to face this life and death crap every week.


End file.
